The Cartographers’ Guild is a forum created by and for map makers and aficionados, a place where every aspect of cartography can be admired, examined, learned, and discussed. Our membership consists of professional designers and artists, hobbyists, and amateurs—all are welcome to join and participate in the quest for cartographic skill and knowledge.

Although we specialize in maps of fictional realms, as commonly used in both novels and games (both tabletop and role-playing), many Guild members are also proficient in historical and contemporary maps. Likewise, we specialize in computer-assisted cartography (such as with GIMP, Adobe apps, Campaign Cartographer, Dundjinni, etc.), although many members here also have interest in maps drafted by hand.

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ. You will have to register before you can post or view full size images in the forums.

Hybrid View

- Skies of Fire - Map of the Aquilan Empire

Another Map I finished a while ago for Skies of Fire a graphic novel project by Vincenzo Ferriero and Ray Chou, which goes to Kickstarter today (I will link it as soon as its open for pledges). This is my sixth participation of a Kickstarter and hopefully more to come. The Process of making this Map was very fullfilling as I had many freedoms of interpreting the initial sketch of the clients and added a wide range of surgestions and location names into the map and therefor contributed to the world of Skies of Fire. I also designed the complete coverdesignelements, which was a difficult task to comeup with something visually capturing while flexible enough to be used on many more issues of the series.
Here are the kind words of the Ray and Vince about my collaboration with them:

"Working with Vandel was a pleasure. He answered our ad on the Cartographer’s Guild and we were immediately blown away by his portfolio. When we started working with him, Josephe proved to be extremely knowledgable about...well, everything. We went into the project with an idea of our story and world, but collaborating with Josephe allowed us to ground all of our fiction - encompassing culture, countries, and geography - with historical reality. Throughout the process Josephe was extremely meticulous yet open to suggestion. Any change we wanted to see he made swiftly and without complaint. When we saw how talented he was, we immediately jumped at the opportunity to hire him as a logo designer for both our comic book title and creative imprint. Although he claimed such work was not his expertise, his actual product belied his words; the logos we received were miles above that of any other graphic designer we had approached. Once again Josephe had proven how talented and versatile he was. We’re happy to say that over time Josephe has become more than a collaborator; he’s now a great friend. We’d recommend him to anyone desiring a top-quality map and know that his expertise cannot be matched. He is truly a magnificent cartographer." - Ray Chou, Mythopoeia

Excellent map! Mountains are awesome (as always), as are the composition, border, title and legend! My only critic would have been to lower a bit the red of the cities (but that's just a matter of taste).